


Devilishly Handsome

by eafay70



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, M/M, New Jersey Devils, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-30 20:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15104201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: Taylor knows that jealousy is unbecoming of him. But how else is he supposed to feel when Nico keeps spending time with drop-dead gorgeous Europeans?!





	Devilishly Handsome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neerdowellwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neerdowellwolf/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [neerdowellwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neerdowellwolf/pseuds/neerdowellwolf) in the [PuckingRare2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PuckingRare2018) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  Nico is always hanging out with super hot European athletes and Hallsy can never tell if they’re dating or not, but he’s super jealous of them anyway.
> 
> My heartfelt thanks to neerdowellwolf for this prompt! I enjoyed writing something different about my beloved Devils! =D

Taylor stared at his phone, arguing with himself over what to do.

On the one hand, he didn't want to spend yet another day miserably jealous of yet another super hot European athlete.

On the other hand, he didn't want to be out of the loop when it came to Nico, especially considering that they were going to talk on Skype later that day.

What to do, what to do...

To his complete and utter non-surprise, Taylor opened Instagram and tapped over to Nico's story.

Nico was sitting on the beach with a wide grin - and without a shirt. Taylor groaned involuntarily; he hated how tempting his friend and teammate looked in pictures like this one. It invariably prompted Taylor to imagine Nico as more than just a good friend and very talented hockey player, which just wasn't possible.

With a soft sigh, Taylor stared at the picture, this time focusing on the person sitting next to Nico. If memory served, this was a rising young tennis star from...Sweden, maybe? Or was it Finland? In any case, he looked like he could have been a professional model instead of an athlete...just like most of the people Nico was visiting this summer.

Taylor made a mental note of the location and caption of the picture before closing the app and setting aside his phone. Like clockwork, Taylor felt the jealousy bubble up as he thought about how happy Nico looked alongside those handsome, handsome men - and hated himself for feeling that way. Taylor had hoped to get over his crush on Nico before the new season started, but that was turning out to be much harder than he'd imagined.

It had to happen, however. Taylor knew he wasn't ugly by any means, but he had no reason to believe Nico would ever look at him romantically. After all, Nico was spending his summer with lots of truly gorgeous athletes who shared his European ways, while Taylor was just another Canadian teammate. Only in Taylor's wildest dreams did Nico turn away the attractive men on the beach and kiss Taylor, and dreams like that just didn't come true.

_X_

By the time Nico's Skype call came through, Taylor had treated himself to various comfort foods and a long shower in an attempt to steel himself for an hour or so of hiding his crush. He took a deep breath and clicked on the green icon. "Hey, Nico."

"Greetings from the Costa del Sol!" Nico chuckled softly. "It's nice and warm here, perfect summer weather!"

"I got that impression from your Instagram," Taylor replied, smiling in spite of himself at Nico's happiness. "You said something about lunch on the beach, right?"

"Exactly! It was amazing!" Nico gushed. "I almost don't want to leave!"

"I don't blame you," Taylor admitted. "All your friends are just a flight or two away when you're over there."

Nico tilted his head slightly, his grin faltering. "What do you mean, all my friends?"

"The people who keep showing up in your pictures," Taylor explained. "If you're in Europe, you're all within easy reach, right?"

"I guess..." Nico furrowed his brow. "But it's not like I never talk to them during the season."

"True," Taylor conceded. "But it's better to be physically with them, isn't it?"

"Sure..." Nico's expression shifted to something Taylor couldn't readily identify. "Why are you talking about this, Taylor? I didn't think you cared that much about my friends."

"Why wouldn't I care about your friends?" Taylor retorted. "I care about you, and your friends are important to you - I've never seen you look as happy as you do in your pictures this summer."

"Really?" Nico scoffed. "Because they insist I look absolutely lovesick whenever I see a message from you. And most of our teammates have made similar remarks."

Taylor's jaw dropped. He had no idea why Nico would say something like that...unless the crush had been obvious all along and Nico was mocking him as a way of prompting him to get his act together. After all, there was no way on earth that Nico returned his feelings or looked at him like that.

So Taylor did the only thing he could think of doing: He ended the Skype call and slammed his laptop shut, then flopped on the bed, buried his face in the pillow, and cried until he dozed off.

_X_

By the time Taylor pulled himself together enough to roll over and look out the window, the sun was beginning to set. He slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes, and picked up his phone from the nightstand where he'd left it earlier in the day. As if the universe wanted to make it clear that he'd screwed up everything, the phone was blinking with missed calls, messages, and even voicemails - all from Nico.

Taylor groaned. He knew he didn't want to hear whatever variant of 'I don't feel the same way as you' Nico would use, but he figured it would be better in the long run if he just got it over with so he could start the process of feeling better as soon as possible. So he opened the messages.

_**From Nico:** What the hell, dude?_

_**From Nico:** I basically tell you that I'm in love with you and you hang up on me?? i seriously thought you were about to bite off my friends' heads because you were jealous. I really don't know what's going on._

_**From Nico:** I keep calling you because I know it's too early for you to go to bed. We need to talk, Taylor._

Taylor blinked in shock, not knowing what to think. He proceeded to the voicemails.

_'Taylor, are you okay? You looked like you were about to faint or something, man.'_

_'I don't know if you've seen the texts yet, but...look, Taylor, I'm in love with you. And I really thought you might feel...something along those lines. I just need to talk to you, please.'_

_'Please, Taylor, we can figure this out. We need to figure this out before the season starts, and I think it's going to take time, so please just call or write or something.'_

With a shuddering sigh, Taylor tapped Nico's name on the contact list twice.

"Oh, thank heaven!" Nico sounded more relieved than Taylor had ever heard him. "I shouldn't have said it like that, Taylor, I'm so sorry for hurting you, I -"

"I didn't realize you meant it," Taylor interrupted. "I didn't think you could ever feel that way about me, not with all those handsome guys around who have so much more in common with you. I thought you were making fun of my crush, that you wanted me to get over it."

"Oh, Taylor, no..." Nico whispered. "I would never do something like that, especially not to you, I swear it. I figured there was no way you could see anything in a kid like me."

Taylor sighed. "We've both been very stupid."

"Yes, we have," Nico agreed.

"Just so we're on the same page: I love you, Nico."

"And I love you, Taylor - not any of those guys on Instagram."

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated! <3


End file.
